Commitments in: Governance - Transparency and accountability

“6. The Ministers also reiterated the importance of capacity building, equity and transparency in international economic relations for developing countries to achieve the MDGs, especially Sub-Saharan Africa. The Ministers underscored their agreement to work together to eradicate poverty and hunger and promote sustained economic growth, sustainable development and global prosperity for all. In this regard, they welcomed the commitment by the government of India during the Africa-India Forum Summit in April 2008 to extend Duty Free Tariff Preference Scheme to all Least Developed Countries and recalled the similar Brazilian commitment made during the 12th UNCTAD held in Ghana.”

Scope:

International

Commitments in: Development partnerships - International partnerships and support for Pan-African institutions

“1. The Minister of External Affairs of India, H.E. Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, the Minister of External Relations of Brazil, H.E. Mr. Celso Amorim, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Africa, H.E. Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, met in Somerset West, South Africa on 11 May 2008 for the Fifth Meeting of the Trilateral Commission of the IBSA Dialogue Forum.

2. The Ministers reaffirmed that IBSA provides a unique framework for trilateral coordination on international issues and cooperation in several sectoral areas whilst ensuring people-to-people interaction making the Forum a meaningful reality to the people of the three countries.”

“24.The Ministers reiterated their firm commitment to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) as the key African Union (AU) socioeconomic programme for Africa. In this regard, they acknowledged that infrastructural development was central to economic development on the Continent. Further cooperation should focus on the re-alignment of NEPAD identified priorities for infrastructural development relating to the areas of ICT, energy, water and sanitation and transport.”

Commitments in: Governance - Political governance

“3. The Ministers reaffirmed their call to make the structures of global governance more democratic, representative and legitimate by increasing the participation of the South in their decision-making. In this regard, the Ministers reiterated that the international system cannot be reordered meaningfully without a comprehensive reform of the UN, and the Security Council, in permanent and non-permanent categories of membership. Ministers reiterated that inter-governmental negotiations on the issue of Security Council reform must commence forthwith.”

“43.The Ministers reiterated the commitment to increase the intra-IBSA trade turnover to US$15 billion by 2010 and noted that the efforts to intensify cooperation in the area of trade facilitation as well as the ongoing work by the IBSA Business organisations to disseminate the information regarding the commercial environment and opportunities in their respective IBSA countries are of immense importance in this regard...”

“34. The Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to alleviate the humanitarian crisis and to cooperate in the improvement to the social conditions in Palestine. The Ministers reiterated their full support to the Palestinian Reform and Development Plan, as expressed in the decision to donate US$1 million per year, from the IBSA Fund, for three years, announced in the Paris Donor’s Conference for the Palestinian State, on December 17th 2007...”

Scope:

International

Commitments in: Environment - Sustainable development

“12. The Ministers recommitted themselves to vigorously pursue the deepening of South-South cooperation for sustainable development. They reaffirmed their shared commitment to the eradication of poverty and hunger through sustained and inclusive economic growth in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner. They highlighted the importance of implementing the principles and goals adopted in the Rio Declaration, Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, particularly the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities and emphasised that capacity building, finance, technology development and transfer and institution building are key to global sustainable development.”

Scope:

International

Commitments in: Gender - Women's rights

“53.The Ministers reaffirmed the objective of the IBSA Women’s Forum to contribute towards the transformation of women’s lives in the three countries, thereby supporting their government’s efforts to deepen South-South Cooperation and promote equitable and sustainable development within and among their countries.”

“11.The Ministers also reaffirmed their commitment to the Bali Action Plan in developing and supporting clear, credible, and long-term multilateral commitments and actions in accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, focusing on mitigation, adaptation, financing and technology. The Ministers stressed that in order for developing countries to contribute to the efforts to address climate change, the key enabling conditions are deployment, diffusion and transfer of technology for mitigation and adaptation, as well as investment in long term research and development.”